DOUBLE SIX DANCE (2015)

Double Six Dance is a randomly generated dance video. Three dancers (Tammy Johnson, Leo Esclamado, and Emily Alden Foster) play an untraditional game in which their movements, the music, and their environment are determined by randomly drawn sequences of dominos.

Double Six Dance

Emily Alden Foster in Double Six Dance

Tammy Johnson in Double Six Dance

Leo Esclamado in Double Six Dance

Choreographing Double Six Dance

SOME DROPS (2014)

Another experiment. This one was made with a single loop of paper (about 2"x6") that I photographed multiple times as I added additional layers of colored pencil and watercolor.

Some Drops (2014)

WATERCOLOR ANIMATION EXPERIMENTS (2014)

I was testing out some different animation techniques in preparation for a larger project that's still in production.

The gif was my first attempt at animating tiny watercolor paintings.

The video is made from panning across a painting done in rows on a single sheet of 9"x12" paper.

A watercolor animation experiment (2014)

A.B.C.O.D.E. (2014)

This video was made for the Feelings International Videoart Experience. Artists were randomly assigned one of the five senses to make a short video about. I was assigned sight, which is an interesting challenge because every video is about sight.

A.B.C.O.D.E. is an ode to alphabets and an expression of the coded nature of visual communication.

What can we see? Color, shape, movement. Seeing alone is not enough. It takes cognitive power to turn a shape into a letter, and education to understand a letter’s meaning. When we read in our native language the process seems automatic, and we forget the leap our brains take between seeing and understanding, that we have to look at each letter to understand each word to understand each sentence to understand anything. We also forget that the symbols we use are not universal, that they are often hyper-local systems that have replaced other systems that were once as widely understood. People who write in a different language may have a similar symbol with a different meaning. People who speak the same language may not have the education needed to decipher it in written form.

In this video we can see letters and other symbols, but we cannot decipher their meaning. Removed from their cultural context, letters become optical illusions of sorts, as the shapes we perceive diverge from the reality of their meanings. Another subtle optical illusion plays out in the background, as moving lines illustrate another subtle gulf between seeing and understanding. We can tell the lines are moving, but can’t as easily discern in which direction they move.

A.B.C.O.D.E.

BUSMOGRAPH (2013)

Every time I ride the bus I make a drawing. I try to hold my hand very still, but it doesn't work because the bus is a very jostly mode of transportation. So I end up with a new and unique nest of scribbles every day. It's a nonsensical seismographic record of my daily commute.

I also wrote the zine Bus Drawings about the only two conversations I've ever had about these with my fellow passengers.

Busmograph (2013)

LEARNING TO USE THE ALPHABET (2013)

Several attempts to correctly print the alphabet are followed by a collection of pangrams - sentences using every letter of the alphabet.

A collaboration with printmaker Amy Burek, who made an individual letterpress print for each frame of animation.

IN 1903 WE (2013)

In 1903 Marie and Pierre Curie were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work in Physics, but were too ill with radiation poisoning to attend the award ceremony.

In 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright built and flew the first successful airplane.

Meanwhile, someone was flying a kite. Someone was constructing a new greenhouse. Someone was keeping track of different types of migratory birds. Someone was playing baseball.

"In 1903 We" presents a glimpse of 1903 using stop motion animation, miniatures, and recorded voices reading found texts describing the year. Marie Curie studies crystals under the microscope, handles dangerous chemicals, and has a vision of her body decaying. The Wright Brothers' airplane flies a glorious flight - a flight that lasted about as long in reality as it does in the video.

This video is part of 100x100=1900s (100 videoartists to tell a century). Each artist was asked to make a short video to represent a randomly assigned year. More information about the project can be found at the project website.

In 1903 We (2013)

HOW TO MAKE AN ORIGAMI CRANE (2012)

Learn to make an origami crane by watching this video 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 times.

Based on a lesson from one of Akira Yoshizawa's origami books: "When you wish to make origami of beautiful creatures or cute insects, it is best to watch and observe carefully how they act and live in their natural surroundings."

In this case, cranes at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. are observed and replicated in paper form.

How to Make an Origami Crane (2012)

THE MONGOOSNUFFLE SHUFFLE RAG (2012)

Animated paper cutouts illustrate a song about a girl who dreams of owning an adorable kitten named Mister Mongoosnuffles.